Ephesians 6:6

George Stahnke PBJ 02/23/19

Ephesians 6:6 (ESV) not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

Your true self is revealed as you work in secret. Your projected self is revealed in how you work when others are watching. We are called to live authentic lives before God and man. As Christ followers we are called to give our best, to shine as it were like a light upon the hill reflecting the true character of God in our daily living and work.

"As to the Lord means that all our work is really done unto the Lord, not unto man. “Grace makes us the servants of God while still we are the servants of men: it enables us to do the business of heaven while we are attending to the business of earth: it sanctifies the common duties of life by showing us how to perform them in the light of heaven.” (Spurgeon)

We are like reservoirs of water subject to the heat of the day. Our levels of spiritual strength and desires to please the Lord evaporate as we walk through life.  We are in constant need to be replenished least we become bone dry and an offense to the world! We will only succeed to the degree that we give ourselves to the Lord a new on a daily basis.

Father God, I think of the words of Jesus when he to his disciples, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41b). I confess that it is true also of me. My heart is to follow hard after you, but my flesh rises up in defiance to my spirit. Help me Holy Spirit, one decision at a time to be the man you have called me to be!

Blessed in Heavenly Places

02/17/2018 Todays PBJ by George Stahnke

Ephesians 1:3 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

How privileged we are, above all others that we, as mear mortals would be called "the children of God." By the Spirit of adoption, we have been born again. Our many sins are forgiven, cleansed by the blood of Christ Jesus. If this were all we were to receive in this life it would be enough! Once we were dead in our sins alienated from God. Now we are alive in Christ Jesus and in renewed fellowship with Abba Father!

“Our thanks are due to God for all temporal blessings; they are more than we deserve. But our thanks ought to go to God in thunders of hallelujahs for spiritual blessings. A new heart is better than a new coat. To feed on Christ is better than to have the best earthly food. To be an heir of God is better than being the heir of the greatest nobleman. To have God for our portion is blessed, infinitely more blessed than to own broad acres of land. God hath blessed us with spiritual blessings. These are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring of all blessings; they are priceless in value.” (Spurgeon)